Great Design Ideas

THE BASICS OF BALANCE IN DESIGN AND DECORATING

In design as well as in all other aspects of our lives balance is an important element.

At one time or another, all of us have been in homes, offices, rooms, stores or hotels where we could not wait to get out of. Something felt uncomfortable, awkward, overwhelming, or boring. Balance is a facet of our lives that makes us feel comfortable and grounded. In design, physical balance is achieved through the position, color, texture, shape, size and the direction the eye follows. It takes into account the shape, architecture, size and lighting of the room, home, or place, the furnishings, materials, and accessories.

Rhythm and harmony go hand in hand with balance. Rhythm is defined as “A regular or harmonious pattern created by lines, forms, and colors in painting, sculpture, and other visual arts”, (it can be said that interior design and decorating are visual arts), and harmony is “A pleasing combination of elements in a whole or the way parts combine well together or into a whole”. The three together create a physical, psychological, and pleasant aesthetic visual order.

There are different types of balance and for design the three most common ones are:

• Symmetrical (formal) balance - one side is the mirror image of the other. For example a central focal point that shows a sofa between two side tables and the same lamp on each side. Each side is mirrored in color, shape, size and pattern. This is the easiest balance to achieve, but be careful, too much symmetry becomes dull and monotonous, boring to the eyes.

• Asymmetrical (informal) balance - there is no mirror image and the focal point may not be in the center. There may be two different items next to each other, similar in weight but different in color, shape, or size. An asymmetrical room is harder to put together. Proportion and scale play a great part in informal balance.

• Radial balance - all elements seem to radiate from a center point, or the elements lead your eyes toward the center or focal point. It’s not the most common in design, but very interesting when well done. There is repetition of form and color.

Balance considers the scale and proportion of sizes and shapes of objects.

Proportion refers to the relationships in size, one part to another or to the whole, and it also refers to the relative size of each item.

Scale refers to “the size of objects in relation to one another and to the human body. In decorating, good scale is the result of eye pleasing relationships between furnishings and other objects and the space they are used in.”

Furnishings must be proportionate to the size and floor plan of the room, as well as functional and attractive.

When designing or decorating there must be flowing transition around a room or between rooms. There must be space to move around without bumping into tables, chairs, or other items, and it is more pleasant to go from one room to another that has a similar flow without abrupt changes.

The transition can be created with curvilinear lines in furnishings, patterns and colors, uninterrupted by hard corners and rigid straight line pattern formations, or excessive contrast of color and style between rooms.

Some people use Feng shui, pronounced “fong shway" or "foong swee". Feng shui means literally wind-water and is the Chinese Taoist art of arranging the surrounding environment: space, objects and places around us to achieve energy, harmony, and balance, and promote the free flow of chi.

Contrast is used to add interest to a room and it works best in small increments. For example a striped pattern and a flower pattern pillow of similar or same colors on a solid color sofa; a black sofa against a red wall; a round table and stripe covered chairs. Well combined geometric forms and patterns can also give a fresh contemporary look. Too much contrast is overwhelming and too much repetition is boring.

Accessories need to be balanced as well. Control your urge to put out everything you own or “love”. Too much of something, no matter how lovely, it’s just simply too much, but a well placed collection as/in a focal point might be very attractive, such as glass bottles of different colors and sizes; ceramics; art work, etc.

It is uncomfortable and unsettling to look all over the place without a focal point. The focal point may be as common as a fireplace, a window, or a piece of art where you arrange furniture and items to direct the eyes toward it. The focal point provides reference and stability to a room.

Don’t forget the ceilings; they don’t always have to be white! If you have green walls the ceiling can be painted in a much lighter shade of the same color. If the room has a great source of light, especially natural light, the ceiling can be painted darker than the walls. Use decorative molding, trim, or wallpaper. The room looks unbalance and unfinished when the walls have a rich color and the ceiling is just white.

One the most important things to remember is to have fun. Find a style you like, experiment, try it out, arrange and rearrange. Don’t be disappointed if it does not look like the picture of the design magazine. However, don’t ignore reality: if there are children or pets a light cream sofa it’s not going to work very well; the traffic patterns may not allow room for the big beautiful stuffed chair; and grandma’s needle point pillows may not fit in with your new contemporary style.

Before you start your project make a plan. On a poster board collect pictures of furnishings, paint chips, fabric samples, tile and wood flooring samples, wall paper, and anything else you might want to use. Place it side by side; check the colors and textures and see what works for you. Your local home improvement store should have most samples of what you need. Decide what items, accessories and furnishings, you are going to use before you choose the paint color. Look in the internet for pictures and ideas. Sometimes, vintage stores have wonderful pieces of furniture and accessories that with minimum modifications can be adapted to many styles and designs. Of course you have to like what you are going to do, but make a decision based on what you need and why versus what you like and want, in the long run you’ll be a lot happier.